r 


POLICY  AND  MANAGEMENT  OF  THE  BOSTON 
AND  WORCESTER  RAILROAD. 


REMARKS 


OP 


EMORY  WASHBURN. 


At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  stocknohl4rs(  of /tjji^  Boston  and 
Worcester  Railroad,  February  6,  1867,  ME^^Pemis  made  sun- 


dry inquiries  as  to  the  management  and  condition  of  the  road, 
and  alluded  to  the  discussions  which  have  recently  been  going  on, 
and  the  statements  which  have  been  made  upon  the  subject,  in 


connection  with  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Quincy,  for  the  State  to 


purchase  the  Western  and  Boston  and  Worcester  Railroads.  He 


said  that  he  did  it  that  the  public  might  be  in  possession  of  the 


facts  upon  which  an  opinion  might  properly  be  formed.  After 
the  President,  Mr.  Twichell,  had  replied  to  these,  by  stating  the 
facts  bearing  upon  the  matters  inquired  of,  Mr.  Washburn,  one 
of  the  Directors,  said  that  he  felt  called  upon  to  state,  somewhat 
at  length,  the  policy  which,  as  a Director,  he  had  advocated  for 
the  last  ten  or  twelve  years,  after  what  had  been  publicly  and 
repeatedly  charged  against  the  management  of  the  road.  It  was 
due  to  the  Directors  and  to  the  Stockholders,  whose  interests  had 
been  entrusted  to  them,  that  everything  in  respect  to  this  policy 
and  management  should  be  fully  known  and  understood,  that,  if 
they  had  been  wrong,  they  might  be  corrected ; if  they  had  been 
wise  or  judicious,  the  public  n^ight  be  disabused  of  the  impression 
which  had  been  most  persistently  attempted  to  be  made  upon  the 


public  mind.  He  should  not,  however,  assume  to  speak  for  any 


one  but  himself,  and  no  one  else  was  to  be  held  responsible  for 
what  he  should  say.  Nor  would  he  presume  to  tax  the  attention 
of  the  meeting,  if  the  remarks  which  he  had  felt  called  upon  to 
notice,  related  merely  to  matters  upon  which  honest  men  might 
differ  on  points  of  taste  or  unessential  expediency.  Charges  and 
insinuations  had  been  made  by  a gentleman  standing  high  in  this 
community,  bearing  upon  the  conduct  of  the  Directors  of  this 
road,  which  ought  not  to  pass  unnoticed,  since  they  were  not  the 


2 


casual  remarks  of  conversation  or  debate,  but  deliberately  repeated 
before  the  Board  of  Trade,  before  the  City  Council,  and  before  a 
committee  of  the  Legislature,  and  published  and  scattered  broad- 
cast through  the  community.  And  these,  or  other  like  charges, 
were  evidently  having  an  effect  upon  the  public  mind  hostile  to  the 
road.  He  held  in  his  hand  the  “ Boston  Journal  ” of  to-day,  in 
which  the  editor,  in  a leading  article  in  his  paper,  had  seen  fit  to 
use  this  language  in  respect  to  the  Worcester  Hoad  in  its  relation 
to  the  Western  Boad,  and  the  conveyance  of  freight  from  Albany 
to  Boston : The  one  has  considered  its  traffic  beyond  the  city  of 
Worcester  incidental  to  its  main  business,  and  a burden  upon  its 
policy  ; it  has,  therefore,  done  little  to  encourage  trade  from  the 
West,  and  has  failed  to  furnish  suitable  accommodations  for  it.” 
The  groundlessness  of  this  general  and  sweeping  charge  he  be- 
lieved would  appear  obvious  to  every  one,  from  the  facts  he  should 
offer  before  he  closed,  and  yet  the  editor  of  that  paper  must  have 
believed  it  to  be  true ; he  certainly  could  have  had  no  motive  to 
misrepresent  in  a matter  like  this,  nor  was  it  to  be  supposed  that 
he  made  this  statement  from  any  hostility  to  the  road  or  its  officers. 
And  he  could  not,  in  this  connection,  forbear  alluding  to  the  lan- 
guage of  his  friend,  the  Hon.  Mr.  Tobey,  before  the  Board  of 
Trade,  day  before  yesterday,  as  reported  in  the  “ Daily  Adver- 
tiser’’: “He  spoke  of  the  opposition  of  the  Worcester  Railroad 
Directors  to  the  proposal  to  aid  the  National  Steamship  Company, 
as  showing  the  animus  of  that  corporation.”  Mr.  W.  said  he  was 
not  aware  that  the  Directors  had  ever  had  the  subject  before  them. 
And  if  they  had,  they  would  have  been  restricted  from  acting 
upon  it  by  the  votes  of  the  Stockholders  limiting  their  powers  of 
engaging  in  any  enterprise  outside  of  the  railroad  proper,  adopted 
as  early  as  1855.  And  yet  Mr.  lk)bey  thought  what  he  said  was 
true,  for  he  was  the  last  man  to  misrepresent  any  one  intentionally. 
The  truth  was,  that  while  others  had  been  busy  in  the  community 
in  creating  a false  public  sentiment  against  the  road,  its  officers 
had  been  minding  their  own  business  and  attendmg  to  their  proper 
duties,  believing  that  the  road  itself  and  the  manner  in  which  it 
was  serving  the  public  wants,  would  be  the  best  answer  to  any 
such  imputations  as  had  been  loosely  made  against  it.  But  it 
had  now  assumed  a form  so  direct  and  from  such  a responsible 
source  that,  for  one,  he  felt  that  it  was  due  to  the  Stockholders,  as  ^ 
well  as  to  the  Directors,  to  reply  to  the  charges  so  publicly  made. 


3 


He  held  in  his  hand  a pamphlet,  purporting  to  be  “ City  Docu- 
ment, No.  109  ” of  the  City  of  Boston,  and  containing  a com- 
munication of  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  Nov. 
19th  last,  and  published  by  the  Boston  City  Council.  Also,  re- 
marks made  by  Mr.  Quincy  before  the  Board  of  Trade,  published 
in  the  Daily  Advertiser  ” of  January  8th  last,  and  a copy  of  the 
argument  addressed  by  the  same  gentleman  to  a committee  of 
the  Legislature,  and  published  in  the  “ Daily  Advertiser  ’’  of 
January  31st.  In  them,  especially  the  first  of  them,  Mr.  Quincy 
has  seen  fit  to  indulge  in  remarks  which  certainly  deserved  to  be 
noticed,  and,  if  possible,  to  be  answered. 

ALLEGED  NEGLECT  TO  SUPPLY  CARS. 

The  first  thing  that  must  strike  the  attention  of  any  one  was 
the  persistent  manner  in  which,  when,  speaking  of  this  road,  Mr. 
Q.  had  linked  and  combined  it  with  the  Western  Hoad.  Mr.  W. 
did  not  feel  himself  called  upon  to  speak  for  the  Western  Road, 
nor  had  he  occasion  to  admit  or  deny  that  the  Western  Road 
had  been  in  fault.  But  the  paper  which  Mr.  Q.  had  read  before 
the  Board  of  Trade  made  frequent  and  pointed  reference  to  a 
Report  of  a Legislative  Committee  of  April,  1866,  raised  “ to  in- 
vestigate the  facts  as  to  the  inability  or  indisposition  of  the  West- 
ern Railroad  to  give  facilities  for  the  transportation  of  freight  from 
Albany,  eastward,’’  etc.,  etc.  Now,  upon  what  ground  of  fairness, 
if,  in  that  investigation,  anything  was  found  for  which  the  Western 
Road  was  justly  amenable,  should  the  Worcester  Road  be  made 
responsible,  or  why  should  it  be  mixed  up  with  the  Western 
Road  ? Is  the  gentleman  so  hard  pushed  to  find  grounds  of  com- 
plaint against  one  of  these  roads,  that  he  must  bring  them  both 
into  the  same  category,  in  order  to  reach  his  purposes  ? The  first  ^ 
of  the  charges  which  this  paper  makes,  is  the  neglect  of  the  road 
to  supply  a proper  number  of  cars.  His  language  Was  this  : 
“Now,  has  this  demand  for  increased  facilities  been  met  by  cor- 
responding accommodation  on  the  part  of  the  Railroad  ? What 
proportion  of  the  treasure  from  the  great  granary  of  the  West  has 
been  attracted  by  this  route  to  New  England  ? During  the  last 
ten  years  the  Western  Railroad  have  added  two  hundred  and 
twelve  (212)  freight  cars  to  their  equipment, — the  Worcester 
Railroad  not  one.”  Observe  here,  that  the  very  thing  charged  as 

\ 


4 


a delinquency  against  the  Western  Road  was  their  neglect  to  fur- 
nish cars.  Nor  was  the  Worcester  Road  upon  trial  at  all.  Why, 
then,  this  gratuitous  blending  of  the  two  under  the  same  charge  ? 
What  were  the  facts  as  they  appear,  partly  from  the  very  report 
Mr.  Q.  refers  to,  and  partly  from  other  public  documents,  includ- 
ing the  annual  reports  of  the  road,  accessible  to  any  one  ? In 
1853  an  arrangement  was  made  between  the  two  roads,  whereby 
the  Western  was  to  furnish  the  merchandise  cars  for  the  Western 
business.  That  left  the  Worcester  Road  with  a surplus  of  cars 
beyond  what  was  needed  for  her  own  business.  This  was  fully 
stated  by  the  annual  report  of  the  road  in  1857.  In  1862,  a 
reference,  consisting  of  gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and 
recommended  by  that  board,  was  had  to  adjust  and  regulate  the 
through  business  of  these  two  roads.  One  item  was  purposely  left 
by  that  board  of  referees,  to  be  settled  by  a special  referee, 
and  that  was,  which  of  the  roads  should  furnish  the  cars  for  this 
business  ? The  referee,  Mr.  Robert  Hale,  made  his  award  in 
1863,  whereby  the  cars  were  to  be  furnished  by  the  Western 
Road  ; and  that  award  and  agreement  are  in  force  now.  In  the 
hearing  before  the  legislative  committee,  as  appears  by  their  report 
referred  to  by  Mr.  Quincy,  Mr.  Chapin,  the  President  of  the 
Western  Road,  and  Mr.  Homer,  a Director  of  the  Worcester  Road, 
stated  the  same  fact,  in  substance,  to  the  committee.  The  simple 
truth  was,  the  Worcester  Road  were  not,  by  that  award,  to  furnish 
a car  for  the  joint  business  ; but,  on  the  contrary,  the  Western 
Road  was  to  do  it.  And  upon  what  ground  of  fairness,  he  would 
repeat,  is  the  Worcester  Road  thus  arraigned  before  the  public 
for  delinquency  in  not  adding  any  cars  to  her  equipment,  which 
was  already  full  ? The  fact  may  not  be  important,  but,  in  the  lan- 
guage already  quoted,  it  serves  to  show  the  animus  ” with  which 
the  imputation  is  made. 

ALLEGi*ED  DESIGN  TO  DO  A SMALL  BUSINESS  AT  HIGH  RATES. 

The  next  charge  made  by  Mr.  Quincy  is  of  a more  serious 
character.  It  implies  that  these  roads  have  been  pursuing  a 
policy,  artfully  contrived,  by  which  a small  amount  of  business 
should  be  done  at  high  rates,  so  as  to  give  the  Stockholders  good 
dividends,  without  subjecting  the  roads  to  the  hazard  of  being- 
taken  or  redeemed  by  the  State.  But  he  chose  to  let  Mr.  Quincy 
speak  for  himself  to  this  point : “ Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  I 


5 


intend  to  blame  either  the  Presidents  of  the  Western  or  Boston 
and  Worcester  Railroads.  On  the  contrary,  I sympathize  with 
them  in  being  compelled  to  carry  out  a system  at  variance  with 
the  public  interest.  The  position  is  an  embarrassing  one.  Here 
are  gentlemen  chosen  by  the  Shareholders  to  look  after  their  inter- 
ests. They  rightly  assume  that  it  is  their  first,  if  not  their  only, 
duty  to  be  faithful  to  those  whose  interests  are  confided  to  them, 
in  insuring  to  them  large,  sure,  and  immediate  dividends.  If 
these  are  satisfactory,  they  should  ‘ let  well  enough  alone.’  They 
must  grasp  one  per  cent,  on  a dividend,  whatever  it  may  cost 
the  public.  They  must  oppose  every  change  which  involves  the 
possibility  of  a diminution  of  their  profits,  and  all  proposals  for 
ulterior  but  contingent  advantages.  In  short,  they  must  see  that 
the  transitory  interests  of  the  few  are  not  sacrificed  to  the  welfare 
and  improvement  of  the  many.  How,  what  are  they  to  do  ? 
Shall  they  put  down  double  tracks  if  the  business  of  the  road  will 
warrant  it  ? Shall  they  add  to  the  depots  ? Shall  they  send  out 
agents  and  turn  all  the  business,  possible  to  their  roads?  Shall 
they,  like  other*  roads,  have  agents  here  to  settle  claims  and  ques- 
tions arising  with  other  connecting  lines  ? Nothing  at  all  of  this. 
Their  obligations  to  the  Shareholders  requires  them  not  to  do  more 
business,  but  to  find  out  how  not  to  do  it.  Suppose  these  Presi- 
dents had  exerted  their  energies,  and  accomplished  four  times  the 
present  amount  of  business  (and  we  know  that  this  was  perfectly 
practicable),  thereby  increasing  their  dividends  from  ten  to  twenty 
per  cent,  per  annum,  — would  this  have  been  a favorable  result 
to  the  Shareholders  ? Decidedly  not.  In  a few  years,  they  would 
have  repaid  to  their  Shareholders  the  whole  capital  they  had  paid 
in,  and  seven  or  ten  per  cent,  interest  from  the  time  it  was  paid, 
and,  by  the  terms  of  the  agreement,  the  State  would  then  have 
had  the  rigj^t  to  take  the  roads  without  further  payment.” 

If  these  insinuations  were  true,  the  Stockholders  then  before 
him  had  been  partakers  in  this  wrong  done  to  the  public.  What 
had  been  done  is  charged  as  having  been  done  for  them.  And 
he  appealed  to  those  who  heard  him,  if  they  had  ever  counselled 
such  a course,  or  if  the  thought  had  ever  entered  their  minds  ? 
As  for  himself,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  say,  the  charge  so  far  as  he 
had  ever  heard  anything  said  at  the  board,  or  so  far  as  we  know 
his  own  mind  or  that  of  the  Directors,  was  wholly  and  absolutely 
groundless.  So  far  from  its  being  true,  it  had  been  a constant 


6 


subject  of  thought  of  the  board,  when  they  came  together,  to 
know  how  they  could  fairly  increase  the  legitimate  business  of 
the  road,  and  how  they  would  reduce  the  expenses  of  doing  that 
business.  He  appealed  to  every  Director,  if  what  he  was  saying 
was  not  literally  and  unqualifiedly  true  ? He  would  do  more. 
He  would  go  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  before  whom  this  statement 
had  been  made,  and  appeal  to  Mr.  Tobey  himself,  one  of  the 
prominent  members  of  that  most  respectable  body,  if,  while  he 
was  a member  of  this  Board  of  Directors,  as  he  recently  was,  he 
ever  heard  a suggestion  or  a hint  even,  of  such  a course  of  policy 
as  is  here  indicated  in  the  paper  of  Mr.  Quincy  ? He  would  go 
still  further,  and  appeal  to  the  business  men  of  Boston,  one  and 
all,  who  have  had  occasion  to  make  use  of  this  road,  if  there  ever 
was  a pound  of  freight  declined  or  refused  by  the  road  or  its 
officers  ? He  had  no  hesitation  in  challenging  contradiction,  when 
he  asserted  that  the  road  has  been  willing,  from  first  to  last,  and 
has,  in  fact,  carried  everything,  within  its  capacity,  which  has  been 
offered  for  transportation. 

WHAT  THE  ROAD  HAS  DONE. 

Instead  of  sparing  endeavors  to  do  an  increased  business  and 
to  meet  the  growing  wants  of  the  public,  the  road  has  been  con- 
stantly making  new  efforts  and  adding  new  facilities.  Instead  of 
neglecting,  as  intimated  in  the  language  cited,  to  add  to  the 
depots,”  the  road  had,  before  1857,  expended,  to  accommodate 
the  through  business,  over  and  above  what  would  have  been  neces- 
sary to  do  their  proper  local  business,  at  least  two  millions  of  dol- 
lars, as  then  estimated, — and  since  1857,  as  stated  this  day  in 
their  hearing  by  the  President,  the  road  had  expended  for  land, 
buildings,  and  rolling  stock,  over  and  above  the  depreciation,  ren- 
dered necessary  to  accommodate  the  growing  ‘business  from  the  | 
West,  1600,000,  besides  1250,000  towards  accomplishing  the 
scheme  of  reaching  deep  water  at  East  Boston,  which  the  public 
have  been  pressing  as  essential  to  the  business  of  the  road.  So  j 
far  from  being  content  with  a limited  amount  of  business,  the  road  ^ 
have,  the  very  last  year,  been  actively  engaged  in  a vigorous  at- 
tempt to  multiply  and  increase  it  by  uniting  in  organizing  three  in-  , 
dependent  freight  lines,  known  as  the  Red^  Blue^  and  White  Lines^ 
between  Boston  and  Chicago,  and  Boston  and  Cincinnati,  by  which  i 
the  Boston  merchant  can  to-day  send  his  goods  from  here  to  Chi-  | 


7 


cago  at  the  same  prices  and  rates  at  which  the  New  York  mer- 
chant can  send  his  goods  to  the  same  point,  although  he  is  fifty  miles 
nearer  Chicago  than  Boston  is.  The  truth  is,  this  road  has  been 
constantly  and  assiduously  endeavoring  to  meet  and  supply  every 
reasonable  requirement  of  the  public.  They  have  had  to  encoun- 
ter frequent  and  annoying  difficulties  and  delays,  for  which  they 
have,  in  nowise,  been  responsible.  They  felt  the  importance  of 
reaching  deep  water  and  providing  elevators  for  the  Western  trade, 
and  they  early  engaged  in  the  scheme  of  doing  this  at  East  Bos- 
ton. They,  for  this  purpose,  invested,  by  way  of  loan  and  a con- 
tract for  doing  this  business,  with  the  Grand  Junction  Road, 
1100,000,  for  which  they  have  yet  received  no  return,  by  reason 
of  the  failure  of  that  Company.  Since  then,  they  have  been  making 
constant  endeavors  to  reach  the  same  point,  but  have  never  had 
leave  or  authority  from  the  Legislature  to  do  it,  until  a year  since. 
A road  under  that  authority  has  been  located  to  that  point,  but 
the  delays  arising  from  questions  in  respect  to  the  property  at 
East  Boston,  pending  in  court,  have  hitherto  prevented  their  ac- 
complishing their  purpose.  In  the  mean  time,  to  accommodate  this 
business,  to  the  best  extent  in  their  power,  they  have,  within  a 
month  or  two,  procured  land  upon  Fore  Point  Channel,  by  an  ami- 
cable arrangement  with  the  Old  Colony  Road,  upon  which  they 
propose  to  erect  an  elevator,  which  has  become  necessary,  now 
that  the  bridge  at  Albany  enables  the  Western  trader  to  send 
forward  his  grain  in  hulk.  These  are  some  of  the  things  which 
the  road  has  done  and  is  doing ; and  with  what  grace  can  it  be 
charged,  that  the  Presidents  of  these  roads  have  conspired,  under 
‘‘  their  obligation  to  the  Shareholders  not  to  do  more  business,” 
“ to  find  out  how  not  to  do  it  ? ” 

THE  ROAD  HAS  DONE  AS  MUCH  IN  PROPORTION  AS  BOSTON. 

But  he  did  not  choose  to  let  this  inquiry  stop  here.  These 
charges  have  been  reiterated  and  repeated  in  every  form  before 
this  community,  to  awaken  a jealousy  on  the  part  of  the  business 
men  of  the  city  against  this  road.  And  now  he  would,  himself, 
appeal  to  facts  as  they  exist,  if  this  Railroad  is  not,  to-day,  as 
ready  and  as  fully  prepared  for  the  business  which  it  is  hoped  to 
draw  here  from  the  West,  as  the  merchants  of  Boston  themselves 
are  ? Are  they  as  well  prepared  with  storehouses  for  the  goods 
to  arrive,  or  with  ships  to  transport  the  Western  produce  to  its 


8 


foreign  destination,  as  this  road  is  with  depot  accommodations  and 
cars  and -rolling  stock  to  bring  it?  They  had  heard  from  the 
President,  to-day,  that  the  merchants,  who  are  receiving  pork  from 
the  West,  are  occupying  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  freight- 
houses  of  the  road  as  a market-house  for  its  sale.  And  we  have 
been  told  here  to-day,  too,  that,  at  times,  the  storehouses,  indepen- 
dent of  the  proper  freight-houses,  of  the  road,  are  filled  with  goods 
and  produce,  and  remain  so  for  considerable  periods  of  time,  because 
the  owners  or  consignees  have  not  warehouses  or  storehouses  in 
which  they  can  dispose  of  those  goods.  And  what  is  to  become 
of  this  produce  of  the  great  granary  of  the  West  when  it  shall 
be  attracted  here  ? The  cry  is  cheap  fares,”  “ cheap  freight ; ” 
“ all  that  is  wanting  to  make  Boston  the  emporium  of  the  Western 
trade  is  a reduced  tariff!  ” This  has  been  repeated  till  men  verily 
believe  it.  But  how  is  the  fact  ? Suppose  a railroad  run  from 
Albany  to  the  end  of  Cape  Cod,  and  would  carry  freight  for 
nothing,  — how  much  Western  produce  would  find  its  way  there, 
with  no  addition  of  ships  or  steamers  to  take  it  off?  Now,  it  is 
not  expected  that  Boston  is  going  to  consume  all  the  pork  and 
grain  that  are  to  find  their  way  hither.  It  is  to  go  abroad,  if  any- 
where, and  yet  we  are  told  by  Mr.  Hill,  of  the  Board  of  Trade, 
in  his  remarks  before  the  Social  Science  Association,  in  speaking 
of  steam  accommodation  with  Europe  : ‘‘  Boston,  therefore,  in 
1867,  has  the  same  number  of  regular  arrivals  and  departures 
from  and  for  Liverpool  as  in  the  autumn  of  1840  1 ” Not  a 
steamer  has  been  added  to  the  foreign  business  of  Boston.  And 
without  these,  what  is  to  become  of  the  produce  that  can  now  be 
brought  over  the  road  ? The  Directors  of  the  Western  Road  tell 
us,  that,  with  their  present  outfit  of  cars,  etc.,  “ we  are  now  able, 
in  addition  to  our  present  business,  to  transport  to  tide-water  suf- 
ficient freight  to  load,  weekly,  a steamship  of  three  thousand  tons 
burden.”  He  had  no  disposition  to  complain  of  the  merchants  of 
Boston,  and  there  was  nothing  in  his  power  which  he  would  not 
do  to  aid  them,  as  a Director  or  as  an  individual ; but  he  would 
ask  them,  in  all  candor,  when  throwing,  as  some  of  them  seemed 
inclined  to  do,  the  fault  of  a diminished  business  upon  the  rail- 
roads, if  there  were  not  other  and  more  potent  causes  why  busi- 
ness is  seeking  other  markets,  than  the  price  of  a few  shillings 
upon  a car-load  of  grain  or  pork  ? Is  it  nothing  that  so  much 
capital  has  been  withdrawn  from  this  market,  and  employed  in 


9 


maintaining  rival  houses  in  New  York  ? Boston  names  and  Boston 
houses  are  to  be  seen  in  all  the  principal  streets  of  that  'city,  and 
many  of  them  are  doing  three  or  four  times  as  much  business 
in  amount  there,  as  the  Boston  branch  is  doing  here.  Will  it  not 
be  time  enough  for  these  railroads  to  add  new  freight-houses  and 
extend  their  accommodations,  if  they  keep  pace  with  the*  business 
that  is  to  be  carried  on  through  the  means  which  these  facilities 
are  to  afford  ? 

ALLEGED  CHARGE  OF  CONCEALMENT  IN  KEEPING  ACCOUNTS. 

Another  charge  made  by  Mr.  Quincy,  in  his  address  to  the 
Board  of  Trade  is,  that  by  the  manner  in  which  these  roads  keep 
their  accounts  they,  in  fact,  deceive  the  public  by  charging  to 
expenses  what  ought  to  appear  in  a different  form.  He  assumes 
that  the  deterioration  of  cars  and  engines  would  be  20  per  cent. 

Now,”  he  says,  the  charges  made  for  deterioration  and  for 
the  purchase  of  new  cars  and  locomotives,  and  deducted  from 
the  earnings^  are,  on  the  Western,  $673,713,  on  the  Worcester, 
$249,357,  being  six  hundred  and  sixteen  thousand  four  hundred 
and  fifty-five  dollars  more  than.  Mr.  Chapin  supposes  would  be  a 
sufficient  sum  to  cover  depreciation.” 

Here,  again,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  why  these  roads  should  thus 
be  mixed  up  together  in  a charge  of  this  kind.  He  did  not 
undertake  to  tell  how  the  Western  Road  kept  their  accounts,  nor 
was  the  Worcester  Road  in  any  way  responsible  therefor.  The 
item  in  the  return  of  the  Worcester  Road  is  this : ‘‘  Total  for  main- 
tenance of  motive-power  and  cars  (including  new),  $249,357.64.” 
In  the  first  place,  the  folly  of  attempting  to  give  a false  aspect  to 
those  accounts,  where  every  fact  is  stated  just  as  it  is,  and  is^open 
to  the  examination  of  any  one,  is  too  obvious  to  need  a single 
comment.  And,  in  the  next  place,  if  money  paid  for  the  rolling 
stock  of  the  road,  which,  upon  Mr.  Q.’s  own  position,  is  used 
up  and  destroyed  in  fivb  years,  is  not  properly  charged  to  expense 
account,  he  was  at  a loss  to  know  under  what  head  the  item 
should  appear.  There  are  the  facts,  fully  and  fairly  stated,  and 
where  is  the  pretence  that,  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Quincy,  The 
companies  are  stronger  by  this  amount  than  they  appear.  That 
is  to  say,  the  income  of  the  roads  would  he  that  amount  larger 
than  the  report’^  ? 


10 


ALLEGED  EXCESSIVE  CHARGES  FOR  FARES  AND  FREIGHTS. 

But  it  was  time  for  him  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Stockholders 
to  what  Mr.  Quincy  has  so  much  elaborated,  the  position  that  the 
road  has  been  charging  an  excessive  rate  for  freight  and  fare. 
And  how  does  he  prove  this  ? By  English  treatises  and  the 
charges  upon  English  Railroads,  without  scarcely  a reference  to 
the  actual  condition  and  fares  on  American  Railroads.  One  of 
these  roads  is  from  Edinburgh  to  Glasgow,  forty-six  miles,  said  to 
be  almost  if  not  an  entire  level,  with  a city  of  near  200,000  at  one 
end,  and  a commercial  and  largely  manufacturing  city,  with  more 
than  one  line  of  steamers,  and  a population  of  near  500,000  at  the 
other.  And  of  what  value  was  a comparison  of  a road  in  such  a 
condition  with  that  over  which  the  traffic  of  the  Worcester  and 
Western  Roads  must  be  dragged  ? He  would  not  stop  to  compare 
the  cost  of  English  labor  or  English  materials,  nor  would  he  under- 
take to  compute  the  difference  in  the  weight  which  might  be  trans- 
ported by  the  same  motive-power  over  a level  road,  compared  with 
one  whose  acclivities  varied  from  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  to  eighty 
in  a mile.  Engineers  have  told  us  that  the  difference  was  very 
great  and  that  it  required  a vastly  increased  amount  of  power  to  do 
the  work.  Nor,  with  the  present  condition  of  the  streets  and 
railroads,  need  he  remind  them  that  the  item  of  snow  was  not 
wholly  to  be  disregarded.  If  they  looked  at  the  actual  returns  of 
the  business  done  upon  these  roads,  they  would  at  once  perceive 
the  difference  between  having  a constant  supply  of  freight  and 
passengers  in  both  directions  sufficient  to  employ  the  full  power 
of  the  road,  and  the  condition  of  the  Western  business.  By  the 
report  of  the  Western  Railroad  of  the  present  ye^r  they  would 
find  that  while  the  freight  from  Albany  to  Boston  was  140,191 
tons,  that  from  Boston  to  Albany  was  but  49,991,  or  three  times 
as  much  in  one  direction  as  the  other.  And  of  course  of  every 
three  trains,  two  must  go  back  empty,  a distance  of  two  hundred 
miles  over  the  hills  and  mountains  between  Boston  and  Albany. 
Nor  was  the  increase  of  freight  upon  the  road  any  ground  for 
assuming  that  there  was  to  be  a like  increase  in  passenger  travel. 
While  the  through  freight  business  of  the  Worcester  Road  had  in- 
creased, the  last  year,  26tfo  per  cent.,  that  of  passengers  had 
decreased  lliVo  per  cent.  But  what  better  test  could  they  have, 
as  to  the  charges  having  been  reasonable  or  otherwise,  than  the 


11 


history  of  the  business  of  the  road  itself  as  it  was  before  them  in  a 
documentary  form  ? And  where  was  the  wisdom  of  disregarding 
the  lessons  of  experience,  and  following  vague  conjecture  and 
theoretical  speculation  ? The  road  had  been  in  operation  for,  say, 
thirty  years.  Every  year  the  statements  of  its  receipts  and  dis- 
bursements have  been  made  to  the  public,  and  its  accounts  have 
been  open  to  the  inspection  of  any  one  interested  in  their  accu- 
racy. If  they  had  been  charging  more  than  it  had  actually  cost 
them  to  do  the  business,  they  must  have  either  spent  it  extrava- 
gantly or  wasted  it,  or  they  had  taken  it  to  their  own  use,  or  they 
must  have  it  on  hand  now. 

If  anybody  has  taken  a dollar  of  this  money,  the  accounts  of 
the  road  would  show  it.  Was  it  pretended  that  they  had  paid  ex- 
travagant wages  or  salaries  ? The  President  had,  for  years,  been 
serving  them  for  one-half  the  salary  which  he  could  have,  at  any 
time,  commanded  elsewhere.  They  had  lost  some  of  their  best 
men  because  other  roads  would  give  them  higher  salaries.  Not  a 
dollar  had  gone  to  buy  dinners  for  the  Directors,  nor  had  they 
even  a “ Director’s  car  ” upon  the  road.  The  money,  then,  must 
have  gone  to  the  Stockholders,  in  dividends,  or  the  road  must  have 
it  on  hand  now.  They  had,  in  the  annual  report  of  the  road,  a 
statement  of  every  dividend  made  since  the  road  began  operation, 
and  could  calculate  for  themselves.  But,  if  he  had  made  no  mis- 
take, they  would  find  that  the  average  dividends,  up  to  1862,  had 
been  less  than  seven  per  cent.,  per  annum.  The  average,  up  to 
1866,  inclusive  of  that  year,  was  a little  over  seven  and  a quarter 
per  cent.,  and,  taking  the  last  ten  years  by  themselves,  — the  most 
prosperous  of  any  of  the  years  in  the  life  of  the  road,  — the  aver- 
age was  a little  over  eight  per  cent.  And  this,  it  would  be  recol- 
lected, was  not  upon  a loan,  where  they  could  withdraw  their 
capital  at  pleasure ; but  it  was  locked  up,  and  could  never  be  re- 
called, except  by  sale  in  market,  while  it  was  constantly  subject  to 
great  hazards  and  loss  by  fire,  accidents  upon  the  road,  and  other 
casualties.  And  was  seven  and  a quarter  per  cent,  too  large  a 
return  for  investments  thus  made,  many  of  them  at  the  infancy  of 
the  road,  when  it  was  but  an  experiment  in  which  comparatively 
few  were  willing  to  embark?  Who  of  the  Board  of  Trade  or 
Corn  Exchange,  would  be  content  to  do  business,  with  such  haz- 
ards, at  so  low  a rate  of  profits  ? When  speaking  of  the  rights  of 
business  men  in  this  connection,  have  the  holders  of  rBl,. 500,000, 


12 


in  the  stock  of  this  road,  no  rights  to  be  heard  and  regarded  ? 
When  it  is  asked  how  large  a sum  has  been  locked  up  as  a “ re- 
served fund,”  hj  the  road,  they  would  find  that  it  was  1600,318.20, 
saved  for  the  purpose  of  reaching  deep  water,  the  erection  of  an 
elevator,  and  providing  additionaFdepot  accommodations,  — a sum 
probably  not  half  enough  to  meet  the  expense  of  these  necessary 
improvements  for  which  arrangements  are  now  being  made. 
These  are  the  simple  facts,  which  have  been  developed  by  the 
experience  of  a succession  of  years ; and  they  are  in  accordance 
withLthe  testimony  of  Mr.  Ashburner,  a distinguished  and  well- 
known  civil  engineer,  before  the  legislative  committee,  contained 
in  the  report  already  referred  to.  On  page  51,  he  is  asked : 

Would  all  other  expenses  be  increased  in  the  same  ratio  as  the 
business  was  increased  ? ” A.  Yes,  sir ; and  if  you  carry  the 
road  to  the  very  extent  of  its  capacity,  you  are  likely  to  increase 
the  cost  over  the  present  cost.  I just  heard  what  Mr.  Chapin 
said  about  the  rates.  I should  say  they  were  low,  from  my  knowl- 
edge of  such  matters.” 

ALLEGED  TAX  UPON  THE  PUBLIC. 

And  yet  there  has  been  an  eloquent  and  impassioned  appeal  to 
the  public  against  these  roads,  on  the  ground  they  were  ‘‘  taxing  ” 
the  people,  to  the  amount  paid  for  the  transportation  of  goods  and 
passengers,  — as  if  a man  who  hires  a laborer  to  do  work  for  him 
and  pays  him  three  or  five  dollars  a day,  is  paying  a tax  to  that 
amount  to  that  laborer  while  receiving  a full  equivalent  for  every 
dollar  paid.  The  public  are  sometimes  taken  by  such  appeals 
to  their  prejudices,  but,  if  ill-founded,  they  are,  pretty  sure  to 
detect  the  fallacy  and  to  do  justice  in  the  end.  But,  that 
he  might  not  do  injustice  to  Mr.  Quincy,  he  would  read  from 
his  remarks  before  the  legislative  committee,  already  referred 
to : ‘‘I  would  first  call  the  attention  of  the  committee  to  the 
extraordinary  position  in  which  we  are  placed.  Some  ninety  years 
ago,  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  then  numbering  about  seventeen 
thousand  souls,  defied  the  whole  power  of  Great  Britain,  rather 
than  pay  an  indirect  tax  of  about  a penny  a pound  on  their  tea. 
Their  cry  was  ‘ taxation  without  representation  is  tyranny,’  and 
the  cry  awakened  every  patriot  from  Maine  to  Georgia.  Now, 
last  year,  the  corporations  I have  mentioned  laid,  legally  and 
under  authority  of  the  Legislature,  a direct  tax  of  $2,408,379.88, 


13 


and  an  indirect  one  of  13,166,848,  amounting  to  $5,575,227.88, 
on  the  people  of  the  Commonwealth.  ...  In  one  case  our  fathers 
escaped  by  revolution.  We  can  only  escape  by  purchase.”  Now, 
these  were  brave  words,  and,  if  poor  Boston  is  being  thus  cruelly 
taxed  by  a single  corporation,  the  Legislature  ought,  undoubtedly, 
to  interfere  at  once  for  their  relief.  It  was  the  first  time  that  he 
ever  supposed  the  war  of  the  Revolution  grew  out  of  the  price 
charged  for  the  freight  of  this  tea,  by  the  shippers  who  brought 
it  here. 

it  certainly  was  a little  remarkable  that  while  competing  roads 
were  charging  the  same  prices  as  are  charged  by  these  two  roads, 
not  a word  of  censure  or  rebuke  seems  to  have  fallen  from  those 
who  are  so  loud  in  their  denunciations  of  the  management  of  this. 
They  seem  to  forget  what  has  actually  been  accomplished,  already, 
in  the  way  of  reduction  of  prices.  Freight  is  now  carried  for 
twelve  and  a half  per  cent,  less  than  in  1854  ; although  most 
items  of  expense  are  higher,  and  what  it  formerly  took  thirty 
days  to  accomplish  in  the  carriage  of  goods  to  Chicago,  is 
now  done  in  five.  And,  he  wished  to  repeat  what  he  had 
already  said,  that  it  had  been  the  constant  and  uniform  aim 
and  study  of  the  officers  of  this  road  to  reduce  the  charges  and 
increase  the  accommodations  of  its  .business  to  the  community, 
and  he  pledged  himself  for  the  Directors  that  if  any  one  can  point 
out  a way  in  which  that  can  be  carried  farther,  to  the  extent  of  a 
dollar,  and  leave  a fair  remunerative  return  only  for  the  capital 
invested,  it  should  be  at  once  adopted.  Their  interest  and  that  of 
Boston  were  not  antagonist  to  each  other,  — they  were  identical ; 
and  the  true  policy  of  the  road. was  to  do  wffiat  it  could  to  aid 
and  encourage  the  business  of  Boston  ; and  such,  he  believed, 
had  been  the  aim  and  wish  of  its  officers  and  Directors.  What 
motive  could  the  Directors,  have  to  do  otherwise  ? They  are  not 
generally  large  Stockholders.  It  had  been  cast  as  a reproach 
upon  some  of  them,  in  a late  legislative  hearing,  that  they  owned 
so  few  shares  in  its  capital  stock ; and,  surely,  they  cannot  be 
suspected  of  being  willing  to  sacrifice  their  just  pride  in  the  honor 
and  good  fame  of  Boston  for  the  paltry  consideration  of  the  one 
per  cent,  on  a dividend,  whatever  it  may  cost  the  public,”  of 
which  they  had  read  in  the  city  document  before  referred  to. 


14 


CONSOLIDATION  OF  THE  ROADS. 

But  the  inquiry  did  not  stop  here.  While  the  subject  of  pur- 
chasing the  two  roads  by  the  State  was  being  discussed,  they 
are  told  that  Mr.  Derby  is  to-day  urging  before  a committee  of  the 
Legislature  the  proposition,  which  had  formerly  been  agitated,  of 
consolidating  them  ; and  he  asked  indulgence  while  he  called  their 
attention  to  this  as  a measure  of  relief  from  what  the  business 
men  had  been  complaining  of — high  freights.  It  had  been 
repeated  so  often,  and  so  little  had  been  said  upon  the  other  side, 
that  it  had  grown  to  be  a kind  of  popular  conviction,  that  if  these 
two  roads  could  be  united,  somehow  and  in  some  way,  freights 
would  come  down,  businese  would  grow  beyond  measure,  and 
everything  in  and  around  Boston  at  once  gain  new  life  and  pros- 
perity. But,  when  we  ask  how  this  is  to  be  done,  is-  any  man 
prepared  to  answer  ? If  a man  take  his  seat  here  in  a car  for 
Albany,  he  pays  his  fare  to  that  city,  and  need  not  leave  it,  if  he 
do  not  choose  to,  till  he  reaches  his  destination.  He  knows  not  by 
anything  he  sees  or  hears,  where  one  road  leaves  off  and  the  other 
begins.  It  is  to  him,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  one  road,  one 
united,  entire  enterprise.  And  so  it  is  with  every  ton  of  freight 
which  he  sends  to  or  brings  from  Albany.  There  is  no  break  in 
the  connection,  no  delay  in  its  passage  at  any  point  of  intersection 
of  these  two  roads ; and,  provided  the  price  charged  be  a reason- 
able one,  the  merchant  could  not  have  a more  direct  or  cheaper 
transit  of  his  goods,  to  the  extent  of  a single  penny  upon  a ton, 
if  the  roads  were  consolidated,  than  he  has  now.  But  then  we 
hear  the  cry  repeated,  at  every  corner  and  on  every  occasion,  that, 
until  the  roads  are  consolidated,  there  will  be  disputes  between 
them  about  the  division  of  freights  and  fares.  It  might  have 
been  folly  in  the  roads,  heretofore,  to  dispute  about  the  settlement 
of  their  respective  shares  of  their  freights,  but  no  such  difficulties 
now  existed,  and  everything  had  been  settled  and  in  harmonious 
action  for  years.  Besides,  if  those  charges  were  not  too  high, 
what  had  the  merchant  who  paid  them  to  do  with  their  division 
amor^g  the  two  roads  ? Was  he  any  the  poorer?  Was  he  any 
the  less  promptly  accommodated,  or  his  business  any  the  less 
satisfactorily  done  ? If  one  of  you  were  to  go  into  one  of  our 
best  mercantile  establishments  and  buy  a chest  of  tea  or  a bale  of 
cloth,  and  get  a good  article  at  a satisfactory  price,  is  he  any 


15. 


the  worse  off,  because  the  partners  of  that  house,  when  they  came 
to  divide  the  profits  of  that  sale,  differed  as  to  the  respective  shares 
which  each  was  to  receive  ? So  long  as  their  business  is  promptly 
done,  and  at  reasonable  prices,  by  the  roads  as  they  are,  the  pub- 
lic are  not  to  gain  a farthing,  in  the  way  of  charges  and  expenses, 
by  consolidating  them.  And  the  only  practical  effect  will  be,  even 
if  the  business  is  equally  well  done,  to  create  a great  combined 
system,  extending  through  the  Commonwealth,  to  be  wielded,  it 
may  be,  by  artful  and  designing  men  to  control  the  political  action 
of  the  State,  and  command  the  business  destinies  of  its  citizens. 
And  do  the  merchants  of  Boston  candidly  believe  that  they  could 
influence  a great  monopoly  like  this  more  easily  or  effectually 
than  they  can  these  separate  corporations  ? And  why  should  the 
State  or  the  City  of  Boston  wish  to  crush  the  Boston  and  Wor- 
cester Railroad  or  swallow  it  up  in  that  of  the  Western  Cor- 
poration ? Its  local  business,  that  for  which  it  was  originally 
constructed,  without  the  aid  of  a dollar  from  the  State,  is  con- 
stantly increasing.  The  very  last  year,  there  was  an  increase  of 
per  cent,  of  passengers,  and  19^^^  per  cent,  of  freights, 
while  the  tonnage  of  freight  of  the  local  business,  the  last  year, 
exceeded  93,000  tons,  independent  of  what  came  over  its  branches. 
Is  there  any  complaint  that  this  business  has  not  been  well  and 
satisfactorily  done  ? And  is  this  amount  of  business  and  the  in- 
terests of  Boston,  in  her  connection  with  her  own  fellow-citizens 
living  and  doing  business  upon  this  road,  to  be  disregarded  and 
forgotten  ? And  will  Boston  be  benefited  by  changing  the  course 
of  this  trade,  by  converting  it  all  into  way  business,  subordinate 
and  subservient  to  the  longer  line  of  travel  ? What  would  she 
gain  by  such  a change  ? And  would  it  be  wise  to  make  war  upon 
a line  of  business  represented  by  93,000  tons  of  freight  ? 

There  is  no  difficulty  now  in  the  transport  of  passengers  or  freight 
between  here  and  Albany,  after  it  is  once  on  board  the  cars  here 
or  at  Albany.  The  difficulty  has  been  either  at  Albany  or  beyond 
that.  The  bridge  at  Albany  will  obviate  much  of  this,  and  a 
proper  supply  of  cars,  and  the  completion  of  the  double  track  on 
the  Western  Road  will,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  wholly  remove  the  diffi- 
culty and  delay  there.  And  how  is  the  union  of  these  two  roads 
going  to  remedy  or  remove  difficulties  and  embarrassments  on  other 
roads  beyond  Albany  ? Massachusetts,  powerful  as  she  is,  cannot 
legislate  for  these.  Everybody  is  in  praise  and  commendation  of 


16 


the  lines  now  in  operation  between  this  city  and  Cincinnati  and 
Chicago,  of  which  he  had  spoken.  They  are  serving  the  public  in 
a manner,  he  was  happy  to  believe,  to  satisfy  the  trade  and  busi- 
ness which  is  done  by  means  of  them.  The  Red  line,  for  instance, 
has  met  the  unqualified  approbation  of  the  Board  of  Trade  in  their 
published  reports.  And  yet  this  same  line,  between  Chicago  and 
Albany,  passes  over  the  roads  of  five  independent  corporations, 
who  have  to  do  with  each  other,  and,  in  fact,  do  with  each  other 
what  the  Boston  and  Worcester  and  the  Western  have  done  with 
them  and  with  each  other,  make  an  amicable  arrangement  whereby 
the  public  business  is  served,  while  they  are  themselves  benefited 
and  advanced.  Merchants  and  men  of  business  speculate  and 
theorize  in  their  counting-rooms,  and  in  their  discussions  with  each 
other,  upon  the  trade  of  Boston,  and  content  themselves  with  the 
conclusion  that  if  freights  could  only  be  reduced,  business  would 
pour  into  her  marts,  though  she  has  not  warehouses  enough  for 
what  comes  here  already,  with  a single  line  of  steamers  only  to 
carry  it  away  when  it  does  come,  and  some  of  her  largest  and 
wealthiest  houses  are  engaged  in  building  up  the  business  of  New 
York  at  the  expense  of  that  of  Boston.  And  in  this  they  do  in- 
justice to  their  roads  by  denying  to  them  the  credit  of  having  done 
what  they  could  to  aid  this  business. 

WHAT  THE  ROAD  HAS  ACCOMPLISHED  TO  INCREASE  BUSINESS. 

He  had  again  and  again  stated  that  the  Boston  and  Worcester 
Road  had  been  constant  in  her  efforts  to  add  to  the  business  of 
Boston,  and  the  statistics  of  the  road  show,  in  some  measure,  the 
extent  to  which  they  have  succeeded.  In  1849-50  there  were 
carried  one  mile  on  her  road,  9,461,000  tons  of  which  6,944,- 
000  tons  were  received  from  other  roads,  chiefly  of  course 
from  the  Western  Road.  In  1861-62  this  had  increased  to  13,- 
403,000,  and  from  other  roads  10,803,000  tons. 

In  1866-7  the  tons  carried  one  mile  were  21,263,000,  while  that 
which  came  from  other  roads  was  16,321,000  tons.  And  estimat- 
ing by  the  number  of  tons  actually  carried  in  their  cars  during  the 
year  ; in  1861-2  it  was  345,172,  while  in  1866-7  it  had  grown 
to  569,319,  — an  increase,  if  he  was  not  mistaken,  of  more  than 
sixty  per  cent,  in  five  years.  And  yet  it  is  repeated  and  reiterated, 
till  it  is  believed  by  many  honest  inquirers,  that  the  road  has 


17 


done  little  or  nothing  to  encourage  the  trade  of  the  West,  and 
‘‘  has  failed  to  furnish  suitable  accommodations  for  it.”  The  truth 
is,  while  others  have  been  haranguing  the  Board  of  Trade,  and 
denouncing  the  road  at  the  corners  of  the  streets,  its  officers  have 
been  diligently  at  work  to  meet  the  public  wants,  to  do  the 
public  business,  and  to  advance  the  public  interests  to  the  best  of 
their  ability.  They  have  been  content  to  let  their  works  show  for 
themselves,  and  answer  these  imputations  of  selfishness  and  neglect. 
And  what  is  more,  the  wants  of  the  public  have  been  met  in 
every  instance  where  it  has  been  within  the  power  of  the  road  to 
do  it.  No  Elevator  was  urged  or  seriously  asked  for  within  the 
city  of  Boston,  till  within  a year,  and  measures  are  now  in  progress 
to  provide  it.  A new  depot  for  goods  was  wanted,  and  it  has  been 
supplied  the  present  year,  while  it  would  have  been  folly  to  have 
gone  on  multiplying  these  expenses,  any  faster  than  the  growing 
business  of  the  road  suggested  that  they  were  needed.  He  was 
willing  to  rest  the  question  of  the  fidelity  of  the  road  to  the  public 
upon  these  facts,  evincing,  as  they  have  done,  and  do,  the  policy 
upon  which  it  has  been  managed. 

HAVE  THE  STOCKHOLDERS  NO  RIGHTS? 

But  while  they  have  been  considering,  thus  largely,  the  rights 
and  interests  of  the  business  men  of  Boston,  it  might  be  well 
to  inquire,  have  the  Stockholders  of  the  Boston  and  Worcester  no 
right  to  be  heard  ? Here  are  $4,500,000  invested  to  aid  the 
business  of  Boston  and  the  public.  It  is  money  actually  contrib- 
uted and  locked  up  — dedicated  to  that  use  and  cannot  be  with- 
drawn. The  state  has  not  aided  them  to  the  extent  of  a dollar. 
Men  had  been  willing  to  risk  their  money,  in  starting  what  was 
then  an  experiment,  without  a chance  for  relief  if  it  had  failed. 
Fortunately  for  the  public  and  fortunately  for  them,  it  has  suc- 
ceeded. But  who  has  reaped  the  richest  share  of  the  benefits  it 
has  brought  with  it?  It  has  helped  to  give  life  and  energy 
to  the  enterprise  which  has  been  building  up  the  city  and  bringing 
wealth  and  independence  to  her  merchants.  And  what  have  these 
Stockholders  received  as  their  share  of  the  return  for  all  the  risks 
and  hazards  which  they  have  incurred  ? A trifle  over  seven 
per  cent,  per  annum,  for  this  four  or  five  millions  of  dollars. 
Have  they  no  rights  to  be  regarded,  no  interests  to  be  consulted. 


18 


and  are  they  to  be  pointed  at  and  denounced  as  taxing  the  good 
people  of  Boston  until  revolution  or  purchase  is  all  that  is  left  for 
them  ? And  then  again  have  the  people  who,  upon  the  faith  of 
the  accommodation  to  be  furnished  by  this  road,  have  settled  at 
Worcester  and  along  the  line  of  the  road,  now  numbering  at  least 
one  hundred  thousand  souls,  have  they  no  rights  to  be  taken  into 
consideration  in  carrying  out  those  schemes  now  being  pressed 
upon  the  public  attention  ? He  had  read  the  character  of  Boston 
for  magnanimity  as  well  as  enterprise  amiss,  or  this  community 
would  not  intelligently  ask  the  Legislature  to  sacrifice  these  inter- 
ests. He  did  not  believe  that  Massachusetts,  who  had  made  her- 
self so  prosperous  by  the  protection  which  she  had  extended  to  all, 
by  just  and  equal  legislation,  would,  knowingly,  do  anything  to 
sacrifice  what  she  has  helped  to  build  up  by  her  charter  and  her 
encouragement  to  this  road.  And  he  would  only  delay  them  a 
single  moment  longer  by  alluding  to  the  project  of  a purchaser  of 
these  two  roads. 

PURCHASE  OF  THE  ROADS  BY  THE  STATE. 

He  had  read  what  had  been  published  upon  the  subject,  and  it 
was  a matter  peculiarly  within  the  judgment  and  wisdom  of  the 
Legislature.  Does  any  man  believe  it  could  succeed  if  adopted  ? 
What  is  proposed?  Roads  which,  with  their  present  amount  of 
business,  require  the  constant,  persistent,  and  untiring  care  and 
labor  of  competent,  experienced,  and  responsible  ofiicers  and 
employees,  under  the  general  superintendence  of  Directors  who 
have  a personal  as  well  as  official  interest  to  watch  over  the  man- 
agement of  the  roads,  — these  roads  are  to  be  purchased  by  the 
State  at  the  round  price  of  some  twenty  millions  of  dollars. 
They  are  fhen  to  be  let  to  the  city  of  Boston,  and  to  be  man- 
aged by  a Board  of  Directors,  part  of  them  chosen  by  the  Board 
of  Trade,  a body  of  gentlemen  some  eight  hundred  in  number, 
with  no  pecuniary  interest  to  call  them  together,  but  ordinarily 
leaving  a score  or  two  to  make  the  elections,  and  a part  by  the 
cities  of  Worcester  and  Springfield  and  the  town  of  Pittsfield. 
And  the  offices  of  President  and  Superintendent  and  Treasurer, 
etc.,  which  will  be  among  the  highest  paid  in  the  Commonwealth 
are  to  be  put  in  and  put  out  at  every  revolution,  local  or  political. 
And  all  this  with  a view,  at  some  time  ere  long,  of  reducing  the 
fare  of  a passenger  from  Boston  to  Albany  to  one  dollar,  and  the 


# 


19 


freight  of  a ton  of  merchandise  between  the  same  points  to  two 
dollars. 

Is  it  believed  that  this  new  scheme  will  secure  more  fidelity, 
more  care  and  oversight  than  the  present  system  ? And  is  Bos- 
ton ready  to  assume  the  risk  of  hiring  an  enterprise  of  twenty 
millions  of  dollars,  to  be  run  by  a Board  of  Directors  and  a set 
of  officers  and  employees  in  whose  selection  she  is  to  have  no 
voice,  and  over  whose  management  she  is  to  have  no  control,  and 
to  pay  the  balance  of  accounts,  after  transporting  some  millions 
of  passengers  and  tons  of  freight  at  the  rates  contemplated  in  the 
scheme  before  the  public  ? 

But,  as  he  had  already  said,  that  was  a measure  which  ad- 
dressed itself  to  the  wisdom  of  the  Legislature,  and  there  he  was 
willing  to  leave  it.  It  was  for  them  to  say  whether  the  hitherto 
leading  policy  of  the  State,  of  carrying  on  its  great  enterprises 
of  business  by  means  of  private  corporations,  which  has  been  so 
signally  successful,  is  to  be  abandoned.  He  was,  at  any  rate, 
unwilling  to  believe  that  the  Commonwealth,  of  which  we  were  all 
so  justly  proud,  was  going  to  sacrifice  the  interests  and  prosperity 
of  this  road  by  compelling  her  to  unite  herself  with  any  other 
road,  or  by  punishing  her  for  desiring  to  maintain  her  integrity, 
by  carrying  out  that  other  scheme  which  has  been  hinted  at, 
extending  the  Western  Road  along  her  track  from  Worcester  to 
some  new  depot  in  Boston,  and  thus  rendering  worthless  the 
millions  of  dollars  which  she  has  invested  here  to  advance  and 
accommodate  the  business  that  is  to  come  over  the  Western  Road, 
and  in  whose  original  establishment  this  road  took  an  active  and 
efficient  part. 


APPENDIX. 


After  Mr.  Washburn  sat  down,  Mr.  Peter  T.  Homer  said  : 

In  that  portion  of  the  remarks  of  Governor  Washburn  referring  to  the 
consolidation  of  the  Boston  and  Worcester  with  the  Western  Railroad,  he 
omitted  to  include  its  financial  bearing,  as  adverse  to  the  interests  of  our 
road. 

I find,  on  reference  to  the  Western  Railroad  report,  that  the  value  of 
the  sinking-fund  applicable  to  meet  the  maturity  of  the  sterling  bonds  due  in 
London,  was,  on  the  30th  November,  1866,  $2,719,862.00. 


20 


Now,  according  to  the  report  of  the  Treasurer  and  Receiver-General  of 
the  Commonwealth  for  the  year  ending  December  31, 1866,  the  funded  pub- 
lic debt  of  the  State,- given  for  the  benefit  of,  and  guaranteed  by,  the  West- 
ern Railroad,  and  called  “ sterling  loan,  principal  and  interest  payable 
in  London,^’  if  reduced  to  currency  at  the  price  of  gold  yesterday. 

Amount  due  April  Ij  1868,  £135,000,  at  S6.65  to  the  £,  $897,750.00 

« October  1,  1§j68,  337,500,  “ “ 2,244,375.00 

$3,142,125.00 

This  sum,  if  paid  at  the  price  of  yesterday,  extinguishes  all  the  sinking-fund, 
its  future  earnings,  and  the  contribution  of  $40,000  for  1867. 

In  addition  to  the  preceding  liability,  there  are  farther  debts,  as  follows  : 

Amount  due  October  1,  1869,  .....  £90,000 

“ April  1,  1870,  . . . . . . 180,000 

« “ 1,  1871,  .....  157,400 

£427,400 

which,  at  the  same  rate  of  $6.65  the  pound  sterling,  amounts  to  two  millions 
eight  hundred  and  forty-two  thousand  two  hundred  and  ten  dollars,  and  the  ■' 
Stockholders  must  be  called  upon  to  supply  such  deficit  as  may  occur  from 
the  inadequacy  of  the  sinking-fund  to  meet  the  entire  amount  of  the  above 
liabilities. 

C.  M.  Ellis,  Esq.,  followed  in  a few  earnest  and  eloquent  remarks  upon 
the  policy  which  had  been,  and  ought  to  be,  pursued  by  the  road,  and 
offered  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted  : 

Fotcc?,  That  the  company  recognizes  the  principle  that  the  interests  of  the  public 
and  company  are  not  antagonistic,  but  concurrent  and  harmonious,  and  that  we  shall 
serve  the  public  at  the  lowest  remunerative  rates  and  provide  all  needful  facilities. 

Voted,  That  they  are  satisfied  that  this  has  been  always  the  policy  of  the  Directors, 
and  that  they  have  done  all  in  their  power,  and  the  company  desire  that  they  shall  do 
all  in  their  power,  to  provide  all  facilities  for  passengers  and  freight  traffic,  and  at  the 
lowest  possible  rates. 

Mr.  Twicbell,  in  bis  closing  remarks,  stated  that  freight  transportation 
was  afforded  to  the  merchants  of  Boston  to  the  West  at  the  same  rates  as 
from  New  York,  though  the  route  to  Boston  was  fifty  miles  the  longest ; and 
he  thought  the  New  York  Central  road  was  entitled  to  the  thanks,  rather 
than  the  abuse,  of  the  public,  for  the  assistance  it  had  given  towards  re- 
ducing the  merchandise  tariff.  He  mentioned  one  exception  to  his  first 
remark, — that  of  flour, — which  is  set  down  in  New  York  at  ten  cents  less 
per  barrel  than  in  Boston,  but  all  return  freight  is  carried  at  New  York 
rates.  If  Boston  merchants  wish  to  compete  with  those  of  New  York,  for 
the  Western  trade,  they  must  sell  as  cheaply. 

After  a unanimous  vote,  requesting  Mr.  Washburn  to  furnish  a copy  of  his 
address  for  publication,  the  meeting  adjourned. 


/ 


